Millares is a village of fewer than six hundred people in the interior of Valencia province, and the whole district feels like a place the twentieth century forgot to modernise. The land is a mix of limestone gorges, dry terraces and pine forest, with the Júcar river running through a deep canyon to the south, and the reservoirs of Cortes and Naranjero lighting the valley floor with turquoise water. The roads wind through small farming settlements, past carob and olive trees, and the silence is often broken only by the bells of a flock of goats.
The Cañas shelter is one of the small painted rock shelters that dot the ravines here, part of the Levantine rock art that UNESCO listed in 1998. Painted in red, these scenes of people and animals are among the earliest depictions of daily life in Europe, though the exact age and meaning are debated. The shelters are fragile, many are on private land, and access is controlled, so enquire locally in Millares, Bicorp or Quesa before planning a visit. If you are lucky you may meet a farmer who knows the paths, and who may tell you stories you will not find in a book.
The Júcar canyon is the great sight in this area. The river, held back by dams, fills long arms of the canyon with calm water, and the cliffs above are home to griffon vultures, golden eagles and Bonelli's eagles. The road along the gorge gives long views and tight bends, and is among the most beautiful in the province. Surface quality varies, with some patches of loose gravel and the odd rockfall after storms.
Fuel is a long way off. Turís, a town of about 5,300 people 22 km away, is the nearest place in the data, and the local villages may have little, so plan a full tank. In spring and autumn the weather is gentle, with clear light. The cuisine is rural: gazpachos with game, rice with rabbit, and sweets made with almonds and honey. Turís itself is known for its wine and for the huge cellar built in a modernist style, a surprise in a small town.